Friday, March 24, 2017

Rebellions are built on
hope...but action figure collections are built on hunting and research!

Whether you’re playing
with them or making a diorama, there are some characters from Rogue One
that unfortunately won’t be available officially in Rogue One action figure form
anytime soon. But don't let that stop your fun!

Rogue One is filled with
exciting new characters that already feel like they important parts of the Star
Wars saga, but it also has brief appearances by many other familiar faces
longtime fans will recognize.

In the first part of this article we looked at a few key characters like Tarkin, Mon Mothma &
Leia and our tips for the best and easiest-to-find action figure versions of them.

Here’s a few more Rogue One characters you won’t see on
pegs in regular toy departments anytime soon but with a little hunting online
or at local collectible shops should be fairly easy to add to your collection:

Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba infamously
picked a fight with the wrong Tatooine farmboy in Episode 4 and proved Obi-Wan
correct in his statement that the cantina could “get a little rough”. They are
on screen only briefly in Rogue One but again they seem to be looking for
trouble, this time in Jedha City.

Photo by Rebelscum.com

There have been a few versions of Dr. Evazan made over the years
starting with the first version back in 1997 while Ponda Baba has been a Star
Wars action figure since 1978. Originally, he was named “Walrus Man” by Kenner back then
(older fans will still call him that!) and has been recreated several times since.

One of the easiest ways to get both characters would be to
find Hasbro's 1997 Cantina Showdown 3-pack that includes Dr. Evazan, Ponda Baba and
an action-ready Obi-Wan Kenobi. Despite being produced 20 years ago, this set is still fairly easy to locate and not particularly expensive. Otherwise, loose versions of both characters are also fairly
common.

Photo by Rebelscum.com

Although they never say a word onscreen in Star Wars movies,
the Emperor’s Royal Guards are still
an imposing sight in their solid red armor and robes. In Rogue One, the guards
are doing what they do best – guarding Darth Vader while he is inside his
healing chamber.

The original 1983 Kenner Emperor’s Royal Guard figure (shown here) is still
fairly easy to find but so are the later versions, including the 2005 Revenge of the Sith edition. Every
version of these guards is pretty good, so it may come down to if you want a
cloth or rubber robe, or simply whatever you can find at a reasonable price.

Photo by Rebelscum.com

Another character to debut onscreen in 1977 but not made
into an action figure until much later is John “Dutch” Vander, aka Red Leader. Most
recently he was part of Hasbro’s Black Series toy line. He didn’t get to do a
lot in Rogue One but for longtime fans seeing him back on the big screen – even
momentarily - was reason to celebrate!

It wouldn’t be Star Wars without the beloved droid duo of
R2-D2 and C-3PO showing up somewhere, and in Rogue One they appear for just a
moment on Yavin 4 before the big battle. Both characters have been made as
action figures many times over, starting in 1978, and are usually widely
available.

Photo by Rebelscum.com

With the exception of the Episode 1 and 2 versions, and a
red arm for his The Force Awakens
edition, C-3PO figures usually look pretty much the same as in Rogue One. R2-D2 has
had many versions that highlight specific features and gadgets he uses but
again, they all pretty much work for Rogue One play.

Although the C-3PO isn't nearly as shiny as other versions, one of the easiest ways to get both droid characters would be the 2014 "Mission Series" 2-pack (seen here).

There’s no wrong way to play Star Wars so use whoever and
whatever you can find to recreate Jedha in a dirt pile or Scarif on your next
visit to a beach. Have fun and, as always, may the Force be with you!

Got a favourite character
from Rogue One you’d like to see Hasbro make? Comment below!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

In 2017
there are still many unanswered questions about Anakin Skywalker, but 40 years
ago young minds were blown by this terrifying but engrossing new villain!

Between
1977 and 1980, with only one Star Wars movie to discuss, fans weren’t even sure
if he was human! Kids and adults alike argued over whether or not Darth Vader
was a droid. Even Obi-Wan in A New Hope says of Vader “He’s more machine now,
than man,” fueling the hotly debated topic!

The fact
that Darth Vader actually was Anakin Skywalker wasn’t solidified until 1983 but
that then raised many more questions. The prequel movies of Episodes 1 -3 (1999
– 2005) focused on Anakin’s fall the Dark Side and the rise of the Empire, and
finally clarified much of Vader’s story.

As time
goes on and new Star Wars TV shows, comics and of course movies come out, more
and more periods of Anakin/Vader’s life become revealed. Learning about all
these events means a lot of reading and watching which may not always be
age-appropriate for all fans.

Star Wars
Backstories Darth Vader: Sith Lord is a brand new biography from Scholastic
Press of the legendary Dark Lord of the Sith. In a middle-grade paperback
format, the book gathers the life story of young Anakin, from childhood slavery
to his heroic days as Jedi Knight. In 128 pages it continues with Anakin’s
fall to the Dark Side of the Force and life as fearsome servant of the Emperor,
Darth Vader.

Considering
how little is known about some characters (what was Luke’s life like before A
New Hope, or between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens? Or the hundreds
of years of mystery in Yoda’s past?), Anakin/Vader’s story is pretty well told
through the Star Wars saga. This book brings most of it together in one place.

Chapter by
chapter, author Jason Fry chronologically tells the known story of Vader. This
includes not only the information given in Star Wars movies, but also covers
major events from The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and Marvel comic books. Along
the way, the gory details are spared, but the book never tries to pretend Vader
was anything but a villain. Anakin’s downfall and Vader’s evil deeds are here,
but presented appropriately for middle-grade readers. Many wonderful
black-and-white illustrations by Randy Martinez highlight the key moments, with
additional artwork by Rick Burchett and cover art by Phil Noto.

Also available now

Scholastic’s
Backstories series began featuring Star Wars characters for the first time with
the terrific Princess Leia: Royal Rebellast year. Hopefully these books will
continue as they are great for young readers who may want to know the major
moments of a Star Wars character’s story but not have access to all the TV
episodes or are not ready for Teen-rated comics.

Jason Fry
is possibly the most prolific Star Wars author with many wonderful books to his
credit: Weapon of a Jedi, Aliens of the Galaxy, Rey’s Survival Guide, the Servants of the Empire series,
and many more! Once again Fry shows his love of Star Wars and his talent for telling it well.

In Darth Vader: Sith Lord, Fry begins the book with a foreword “by Darth Vader” which
solidifies Vader's belief that he was “born” when Anakin “died”, a notion that
Luke never totally believed. It may have been interesting to keep the book
going as if it were written by Vader himself, but it’s hard to imagine the Dark
Lord sitting down to write his memoirs. It’s probably for the best that it was
done the way it was.

For die-hard, read-everything fans Darth Vader: Sith Lordmay have few surprises but it is a well-written, well-illustrated recap of just about everything we know about one of the most tragic stories in all of Star Wars.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

With the
recent release of Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars Read-Along Storybook and CD
series has adaptions of all seven Star Wars “episodic”
movies now available.

Each movie title
is condensed into a 32-page storybook, full of brand-new illustrations, displayed nicely in the popular 8 x 8 picture book
format. The accompanying CD is the same version of the story told through narration, sound effects,
music and even dialogue from the movies. They are a lot of fun and a whole new
way to experience the stories.

All of the
books contain beautiful new artwork from the digital painting master Brian
Rood. His art is also in many other recent Star Wars books, especially The Force Awakens storybook and Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Stories.

Released in
a somewhat strange order, the new Star Wars Read-Along series has finally
completed the “saga” (no plans for a Rogue One book set announced yet). Starting in 2015 they were released in the
same order the movies were: A New Hope,
The Empire Strikes Back and Return of
the Jedi. Shortly after the film release of The Force Awakens, that movie’s Read-Along book set came out in
spring 2016.

Starting in
January 2017, the prequel trilogy editions were released, completing the series
of the first seven “episode” movies, otherwise known as the Skywalker saga.

This isn’t
the first series of Star Wars Read-Along books but is the first time for most the
movies in this format. In the 1970’s and 80’s there were
book-and-record read-along versions of the original trilogy, as well as several
other Star Wars read-along books based on the Ewoks adventures or issues of the
original Marvel comics. Many of these were later available with a cassette
instead of a vinyl record.

Then in
1997 new adaptions of A New Hope, Empire
Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
were created to tie into better with the new material added for the "Special
Edition" re-releases of the films. In 1999 a read-along book and CD set was also
created for The Phantom Menace.

1997 version of A New Hope

With this
series there are some re-used elements from the past, but most of it is new to
enjoy. The first three “original trilogy” releases have the same text and audio
as the 1997 versions (then illustrated with photos) though
this appears to be the first time the audio is available on CD. However for
this series The Phantom Menace, Attack of
the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and The
Force Awakens are all-new retellings of the films, with new art and new
audio presentations.

The new
adaption books are all written by Elizabeth Schaefer (author of Rey’s Story and The Force Awakens storybook) and the re-released ones were adapted
by Randy Thornton. The authors pull off the tricky balance of keeping the story
flowing and exciting while also keeping the vocabulary and content
age-appropriate for young readers (or read-alongers?), only subtly
acknowledging the more grizzly moments, especially in Revenge of the Sith.

Whether you
sit down to enjoy these books along with the CD, or enjoy the CD and
books separately (I happen to really enjoy just listening in the car), the Star
Wars Read-Along books are a wonderful series and entertaining way for young
fans to enjoy the stories again and again. Looking forward to a read-along The Last Jedi, hopefully soon!